In what experts are calling a politically motivated death sentence, Russian President Vladimir Putin has reassigned Major General Ivan Popov to a penal assault unit on the front lines of Ukraine, a role notorious for its catastrophic casualty rates.
Popov, once hailed as a rising star in the Russian military, was relieved of his command in July 2023 after criticizing senior leadership—particularly Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu—in the wake of the Wagner Group’s failed mutiny. Popov was accused of sympathizing with the rebellion and later exiled to Syria in early 2024.
His downfall continued when he was arrested for corruption, despite widespread skepticism among Russian military veterans and ultranationalist circles about the validity of the charges. In a last-ditch appeal from prison in March 2025, Popov requested reinstatement to active duty. The Kremlin accepted his plea—by sending him to lead penal battalions, which spearhead high-risk assaults with extremely high fatality rates.
The decision underscores the Kremlin’s intolerance for dissent and the brutal tactics employed within the Russian military hierarchy. Analysts say the move reflects Putin’s strategy of punishment cloaked in duty, where former allies who fall out of favor are offered a path to “redemption” that often leads to death.
More than 930,000 Russian troops are estimated to have been killed or wounded since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine began—figures that paint a grim picture of the war’s human cost. Popov, now on the front lines, is likely to become one of its next casualties.
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